Salvage Begins On Sunken Fishing Boat In Point Pleasant Beach

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, NJ — Salvage efforts were set to get underway off Point Pleasant Beach this week to remove a commercial fishing vessel that sank in November 2023.

The Susan Rose, a 77-foot trawler out of Port Judith, Rhode Island, ran aground on Nov. 16 in Point Pleasant Beach not far from Manasquan Inlet. It had four crew members and had been fishing for black sea bass and flounder at the time. There were no injuries in the incident.

The boat then sank three days later as a marine salvage company tried to pull it off the beach.

Authorities with local, state and federal agencies overseeing the salvage operation said it was set to begin this week.

The boat is sitting about 3,000 feet offshore, a notice about the salvage efforts said.

The work is being done by Resolve Marine and Northstar Marine, and involves anchoring a large crane barge over the wreck and then re-float it, officials said.

Northstar Marine had surveyed the boat in January, checking the condition of it.

The salvage operation is anticipated to take seven days, officials said. The barge and its anchoring points will be lit at night throughout the salvage operation.

Among the groups overseeing the salvage is the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. There was about 6,000 gallons of fuel on board at the time the ship grounded but that was removed before the vessel sank and officials said less than 100 gallons of oil products is estimated to remain sealed inside the vessel.

"No environmental impact is anticipated to occur during this salvage, however pollution mitigation equipment will be readily deployed if any discharge is detected," officials said.

The U.S. Coast Guard was establishing a safety zone around the salvage operation, and boaters will be notified through a Local Notice to Mariners posted on the Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay’s homeport webpage. The notice also will be broadcast over VHF Channel 16 at regular intervals, officials said.

Boaters are urged to stay at least 500 yards from the salvage operation and to pass by the area with caution at the slowest speed to maintain navigation and minimize wake, the Coast Guard said.

Once the Susan Rose is raised, officials will assess it and decide its future, officials said. Originally it was scheduled to be towed to a shipyard in Tottenville, Staten Island, where it was to be removed from the water.

Northstar Marine was handling the original salvage efforts when the boat sank in November.

The cause of the Susan Rose grounding and sinking remains under investigation.

The agencies overseeing the salvage operation include the U.S. Coast Guard, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the New Jersey State Police Office of Emergency Management, the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department Office of Emergency Management, and the Point Pleasant Beach Police Department.